By Christopher White, National Correspondent
When the first wave of Bangladeshi immigrants arrived in the United States in the 1970s, many of them settled in Astoria – one of New York’s most diverse immigrant neighborhoods.
The eyes of the world were on their country as Pope Francis wrapped up a six-day visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh. Although this immigrant community is more concerned with its own local affairs and hardly seem aware of the pope’s presence in their homeland, they had some strong opinions about what he ought to say.
On the evening of Pope Francis’s first day in the country, I ventured out to Boishakhi, a popular Bangladeshi restaurant in Queens, now home to the largest Bangladeshi community in the U.S. After speaking with a dozen individuals, I discovered the overwhelming majority of this random sampling of diners were oblivious to the pope’s trip, but that didn’t stop them from offering an opinion once they realized the pontiff’s presence in Bangladesh might actually have the capacity to effect change.
I approached a table of eight men, who warmly asked that I join them for tea. After polling the group, only one was even aware of Pope Francis’ trip to Bangladesh.
“I think I read about it in the papers, but I didn’t know it was now,” he told me.
“Well, now that you know that he’s there, what are you hoping he says or does?” I inquired.
These men eye one another before nudging the most charismatic member of the group and asking him to speak. “His English is the best,” they insisted.
“I will tell you not what I hope, but what I expect,” began Mahfuz, who preferred only to give his first name.
“I expect that he will speak about the human disaster of the minute,” he said, “about the population of Muslims who have been uprooted, brutally raped, and brutally killed.”
Mahfuz, 49, has called the U.S. home for the past 24 years. He immediately tapped into the same theme that had become a focal point of the papal visit.
The crisis of the Rohingya Muslims – more than 600,000 have fled Myanmar to escape ethnic cleansing and seek refuge in Bangladesh in the past three months – has dominated headlines over the past week.
“We need real action,” Mahfuz told me. “The pope has enormous power to influence the world powers to put pressure on Myanmar.”
While his fellow diners were silent, they all nodded their heads in agreement.
“We must remember what happened in Rwanda and this must be stopped,” he added. “Recall the United Nations Charter. If a country is no longer able to control what is happening in their country then it is no longer just their business.”
I inform him that the pope first visited Myanmar before Bangladesh and that some have criticized Francis for not specifically identifying the Rohingya by name.
“We don’t mind if the pope doesn’t say Rohingya,” Mahfuz replied, “as long as he says that they are human beings and this must end.”
Later, I spoke with the manager of the restaurant – who, after making sure I didn’t want a second portion of fish and vegetable samosas, sat down to speak with me. She was unaware of the pope’s travels. “The one from Italy?” she asked me in surprise.
When I probed further to see if she had any expectations for his visit, she was largely nonplussed, but added, “He will be very welcomed. We have people from all sorts of faiths and backgrounds.
“It will be hot, but hopefully he will enjoy the weather,” she added.
On Friday, Pope Francis met with a group of 16 Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh and apologized for the “world’s indifference” to their plight and for the first time on his trip, referred to them specifically by name.
“The presence of God today is also called Rohingya,” said Pope Francis.
Reflecting on the power of papal words, Mahfuz recalled the 2013 collapse of a five story commercial building in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital that killed 1,134 individuals and injured nearly 3,000 more.
At the time, Francis issued a strong rebuke of the working conditions and called for structural change.
“A headline that really struck me on the day of the tragedy in Bangladesh was ‘Living on 38 euros a month,’” said Pope Francis. “This is called slave labor. Today in the world this slavery is being committed against something beautiful that God has given us – the capacity to create, to work, to have dignity. How many brothers and sisters find themselves in this situation! Not paying fairly, not giving a job because you are only looking at balance sheets, only looking at how to make a profit. That goes against God!”
